


Missing Scene 4: Learning to listen.

by Casyn



Series: Saving Hogwarts [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Original Character(s), Saving Hogwarts Universe, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 05:16:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9477227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casyn/pseuds/Casyn
Summary: This is a missing scene from Chapter 39 "Nightmares". Henry needed to have a talk with Jake and this is that talk. It does involve physical discipline of an adult, but it is mostly off scene.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Part of this story is the beginning to chapter 39, so that it makes sense.

“Enough.” He interjected finally, green eyes locked on the pacing, ranting younger man. Henry had let him rant and rave for nearly half an hour, hoping that eventually Jake would either stop or realize his tactics weren't working. But it was now after midnight and they had rounds to make before either of them could sleep. He was hoping that they could have a quick conversation about what had happened, but Jake was proving Eric right. He had known Jake was testing him, but he had hoped he would stick with his usual attitude and snapping, something that he could handle with a quiet word or a stinging spell. Not this. He hadn't thought the younger man would break one of the few rules he had given him when he took over as his legal cosigner, his guardian. 

Jake grumbled under his breath for a moment, glancing at his time piece. “I have rounds to make.” He snapped, moving toward the door that lead to the counselors hallway. 

“We have rounds to make. I don't see why we can't walk and talk, quietly.” Henry replied firmly, standing and moving toward him. He gestured toward the door, raising an eyebrow at the younger man's glare. Didn't Jake realize that sulking made him look so much younger?

He huffed softly, opening the door and strolling down the hall toward the door that lead out into the castle. They always did a quick sweep of the safe rooms near the counselors office and the areas surrounding the camp before going through the camp. He stepped out into the castle and frowned, lighting his wand and turning to look again down the hallway. He thought he had seen movement. But as the counselors on duty, neither of them had felt the bracelets go off, so unless they hadn't been in their room, no one had left the camp. It was an ingenious design of Filius', the bracelets. They were similar to the pendants all of the staff wore, except that the two bracelets were for the camp specifically. If a student left their bunk room, the bracelets went off. If the self-injury ward was triggered, the bracelets went off. Those two bracelets when to whichever two staff members were on-duty that night. Usually counselors were alerted by their pendants if the self injury ward or the nightmare ward were triggered in their particular cabins, but if they didn't respond to the ward or it was triggered somewhere else, like the bathrooms, the bracelets went off for the on-duty staff. The bracelets made their jobs just a little bit easier. He hesitated, glancing at Henry before looking back down the hallway again. He finally looked back at the older man and raised in eyebrow, he had a feeling he needed to go check that out and they could do this faster if they went separate directions. He waited until Henry nodded before moving silently toward where he thought he had seen something. Hopefully it wasn't serious. 

Henry lit his wand, glancing in both directions before heading toward what was now dubbed the counseling floor. He moved past the offices, causally checking each door. The counselors and healers were pretty good at locking their offices back, but it never hurt to check. When they all seemed clear, he moved on to the hallway with the safe rooms, glancing at each door as he passed. These doors were never locked but they were each charmed to show if there was someone in them. 

Jake frowned, finally spotting the boy he thought he had seen. “Daniel.” He called softly, sighing when the child flinched and shoved something in his pocket. 

Daniel grimaced, biting his lip after shoving the piece of roll with cheese into his pocket. Of course he would get caught sneaking back into the camp. He did relax fractionally when he realized it was Jake and not someone else. “Sorry Jake.” 

“What are you doing up?” He asked, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer to that. He was going to have to talk to Alexis about getting a refrigerator for the common area. It would keep the teenagers from sneaking out when they were hungry at least.

He hesitated before shrugging. “I was hungry.” He answered finally. He knew Jake wouldn't hurt him, even if he did have to squash the feeling that he was doing something wrong. 

“You know you can always ask and we can get food brought up. I don't want you going hungry because you are afraid to ask or sneaking out and getting hurt. Alright?” He responded calmly, meeting the teenager's eyes for a long moment before the boy looked away. 

“Okay, Jake.” Daniel removed the food from his pocket slowly. He knew Jake wouldn't take it from him but that didn't make it any easier. 

Jake held open the door to the camp, gesturing the teen inside. The fact that Daniel took the food back out of his pocket showed how much the teenager had come to trust him. That gave him a small, warm feeling inside. Because even if it was slow, these teens were healing. “Eat and then bed.” He ordered firmly. 

Daniel nodded, taking a bite of his make-shift sandwich as he headed back into his cabin. He was tired after all, the only reason he had gone in search of food was because he had been more hungry than tired. 

Jake waited a moment before going back into the hallway to catch up with Henry. They would check each of the cabins next, so he could make sure all of his boys were in bed. 

-x-

It hadn't taken long to check the remaining rooms and then take a quick stroll through the cabins. He had convinced the few older teenagers who were still up to get into their beds, and the last he checked, they were all asleep. Jake wasn't sure how long that would last, because at least one of the teenagers had a nightmare every night. It wasn't usually the same teenagers, either. Nightmares were common within the camp, but since it was a camp of abused kids, that made some sense. Now all he wanted to do was try to get some sleep before the night was over. He was tired, after all. 

“We need to talk, Jake.” Henry remarked quietly, sitting down on his bed. All of the children were in their beds, all of the counselors were either in their beds or on the way to their beds, and the two of them were in their night clothes, preparing for bed themselves. But he knew he couldn't wait any longer to have this conversation. He wish he had had it the day after Jake had gone after the nightmare creature with Alexis. But the younger man had still been recovering from magical exhaustion and so he had decided to wait. Now it was three days later and Jake had been trying to push his limits. From experience with his own apprentice a few years before and from talking to Eric, he realized exactly what Jake was doing. He had promised Jake consequences for breaking his few rules and when he didn't follow through with that immediately, he had made Jake's place with him uncertain. And, since he knew more about Jake's past than most, except perhaps Alexis, he knew that fists usually followed uncertainty in Jake's life. 

“Look, Henry, I don't want to hear it. I'm an adult. I can do what I want.” Jake snapped, attempting to straighten his desk so that he could at least find the duty roster for tomorrow. 

He closed his eyes for a moment, forcing down a sigh. “I know you are an adult. But I am your legal guardian and you are a healer. You know as well as I do that healers cannot do whatever they want. The guild is quite clear on that. If you are unsettled then your magic is too and that is dangerous for a healer.” He responded firmly, raising an eyebrow when Jake scoffed. “You don't agree?”

“I'm not unsettled.” He shrugged, frowning slightly at his desk. He had just moved a pile of books and he still hadn't found that piece of paper. “Have you seen tomorrow's duty roster?” He added, running a hand through his hair as his eyes combed over the mess of his desk once more. 

Henry snorted, gesturing toward his desk. Jake was seriously lacking in organizational skills. “On my desk, where you left it.” He replied. He honestly thought that his desk might be the best place for papers Jake actually needed daily, although he was thinking about getting a cork board for the younger man. 

He picked up the paper, running over the list quickly. He moved toward his desk with it, hesitating a moment before moving back across the room and putting it back on Henry's desk. “Do you mind?” He questioned, nodding toward the paper. 

“Not at all. But don't think that means your mess can move over to my side.” He teased, shaking his head. “Perhaps unsettled wasn't the correct word. You are uncertain of me and my guardianship over you, which is normal. So let's talk about it, alright?” 

He huffed, crossing back over to his side of the room and slowly starting to clear off his bed. “Fine. What about it?” 

He ignored the attitude, green eyes focused on the younger man. “One of the few rules I have is that you not place yourself in unnecessary danger or take unnecessary risks. When I told you not to tell Alexis, you disobeyed me. In doing so, you were both in unnecessary danger. Do you know why I am upset with you, Jake?” 

“Because I disobeyed you.” 

“No.” 

“No? Seriously?” Jake frowned, narrowing his eyes in thought. Why else would the older man be upset with him? He did disobey him, he knew that. He had thought that he was perfectly capable of talking to Alexis. He was but he wasn't quite able to control what the slightly older woman did. Not only was she his boss, but she was very protective of her students and staff. “Why then?” He asked after a few minutes, shaking his head. He didn't understand Henry sometimes.

“What happened after you told Alexis about the creature?” Henry answered with a question of his own. He was hopeful that Jake could figure it out. It was the same sort of questioning they used with the older teenagers, so Jake used it often. He did know that the younger man was very rarely on the other side of the questioning, since he was the one of the two head counselors and very few people questioned his actions like he did. 

He hesitated, chewing on his lip for a moment, tossing aside the clothing he had picked up. It suddenly became clear to him where Henry was going with this. “We went after it. She didn't want me to come but I wasn't letting her hunt it alone and I couldn't stop her. She wanted to protect her students and I did too.” He answered finally, his eyes tracing the pattern in his rumbled sheets. “That's why you are upset, isn't it? Because we went after it instead of informing anyone else or making a safer plan. God, we acted just like some of the teenagers.” 

Henry nodded, tilting his head slightly. “You are still young Jake. Your brains aren't even fully developed yet and both of you have had hard lives. That does not, however, excuse your actions. You took an unnecessary risk and put yourself in serious danger. You could have been killed.” 

Jake blinked, feeling himself blush. While he had known it had been dangerous, he hadn't thought anyone would care. Eric and Tim had fussed and he knew they cared about him, but he wasn't theirs, not really. He just worked under them. But he understood what Henry was saying, that the slight emotion in Henry's voice was worry and care for him. He was trying to teach a dozen teenagers that they were cared for and loved; hell, he was trying to teach Charlie and Kate the exact same lesson. So he did know that Henry might care for him, but he had always pushed that down. Very few people had ever cared about what he did before, lest of all his old guardian. So why should Henry?

“I know you are not used to people caring about you and to suddenly be thrust into a place where several people care about you and your actions can be unsettling. The teenagers push and test us because they don't know where they stand with us, they don't know how we will react. The younger counselors do much the same toward you and Alexis. I understood, when I signed on for you, that you might do that same. That for all the hell you have gone through, there have been very few people who gave a damn about you and your actions. So I understand why you might not believe me, why you keep pushing and testing. But I do hope, that with time, my actions will help you believe me.” Henry remarked quietly, watching the fidgeting younger man who still wasn't looking at him. 

He bit his lip, finally turning and glancing briefly at Henry. His bed was now clear, with all the clothing tossed on top of his dresser and the papers pushed onto the floor. Unfortunately stress made his organizational skills worse, not better, and the stress he was under here was more than he had been under in a while. The chaos fit his emotions perfectly, though. Because while he wasn't happy about what Henry was saying, he recognized the truth in it and he could almost feel Henry's care for him. “I'm sorry, Henry.” He answered finally, brushing the hair away from his face. “I know you care, I just...I'm not used to it.” He grimaced, hating how childish that sounded but it was better than what had came to mind. Because he wasn't used to this, he was used to a cosigner who didn't care about him unless he was hitting him. He didn't know how to accept Henry's care and concern. 

“I am not your old master, Jake. I care about you because of you, not for any other reason. I am sure you are aware that I would never harm you like that, but let me reinforce that. I will never strike you, not like that. You will never bleed because of me. I want to protect you, son. I don't want you endangering your life when there are better, safer, alternatives.” Henry responded softly, meeting green eyes for a long moment. 

He grimaced, dropping his eyes back to the floor. “I really am sorry, Henry.” 

“I know. Do you know what you could have done differently?”

Jake hesitated, frowning slightly. He knew what he had done wrong but talking about it made him feel so...young. These were the questions he asked his boys. He wasn't used to anyone questioning his judgment, besides Henry and Eric anyway, and he wasn't used to answering these questions. No one had ever cared before, before he came here. For some reason, the majority of the older adults at Hogwarts, at least those on the healing staff, cared. Even several of the regular staff cared! It was mind-boggling at times and frustrating. Because why couldn't he had had these people when he was younger? “I could have went to Eric or Tim with my concerns, instead of Alexis. I guess I could have also tried harder to talk her out of it. And I could have let you tell her, instead of telling you that I'd talk to Eric, when I wasn't planning to.” He answered finally, deciding to just be honest. Because he had already figured out that he was in trouble and he really didn't want to be in more trouble for lying to Henry. Again. 

“Two of those three answers are correct. I would prefer it if you didn't lie to me, Jake, although I do understand why you did. But I do want you to know that once you had told her, there was no way you could talk her out of it. She would have gone after it, with or without you. You managed to keep both of you alive. Remember what I do for a living, Jake. It's my job to recognized microscopic traits and behaviours. Did you know that telling Alexis would cause her to decide instantly to go after it herself?” 

“No sir. But I'm guessing you did?” That actually made sense to him. Henry observed human behaviour and interaction, he saw the little things that most people overlooked. It had made sense to him when Henry had actually explained why Alexis had hired him and it had made him regret speaking ill of and toward the older man, briefly at least. 

He gave a small smile, nodding slightly. He knew Jake would catch on to that with a bit of prodding. He also could read the younger man's body language, so he was aware that Jake knew exactly where this was going and the small amount of fear the younger man was trying so hard to hide. It was time to get this over with, so that he could prove his words with his actions, so Jake would stop fearing him. “I did. Now, why don't we handle this, alright?” 

He blanched, leaning back as if that would put more distance between them. He knew Henry wouldn't hurt him, not like that. But that didn't mean he was ready for this. “Are you...I mean...I.” 

“I'm going to spank you, Jake, just as I had promised you if you broke my most important rule. Which you did, you placed yourself in unnecessary danger and risked your life. So yes, I am going to spank you and it will hurt. But I can promise you that I will not do damage to you and that once it is over, it will be a clean slate.” He answered firmly, capturing scared green eyes. He beckoned to the younger man, tapping his knee. He wouldn't force this, if Jake really could not do it, but he had faith that the younger man could. He was a healer after all, so the Guild's discipline for wayward healers was much the same, just less personal and sometimes much more severe. Plus, he thought that Jake was starting to trust him just a little bit more. That would help with this. 

He took a slow step forward, keeping his eyes locked with Henry's. That made it a little bit easier, at least. He reached his side and hesitated, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a moment. He could do this, it was no different than when he disciplined Charlie or Phil, not that he had ever full out spanked either them, but he had swatted them and used stinging spells. Hell, Henry had swatted him and that had been okay. He knew why Henry chose this over stinging spells, this was much more personal. And so much harder. 

“It's alright Jake. You are safe here.” Henry stated gently, very slowly reaching out and encircling Jake's wrist with his hand. He forced down a wave of anger when the younger man flinched violently at the contact. Oh, how he wanted to hurt those who had harmed this young man.“You are safe. It's okay, son. It's okay.” He had seen the younger man's blush after all. And he knew the man wasn't actually afraid of him. Jake might be uncertain about his actions and intentions toward him, but he definitely wasn't afraid of him.

He blushed, biting into the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood. He wasn't sure he could do this. What if he was wrong? What if Henry morphed into someone else? What if...He flinched, trying not to pull away from the hand gently tugging his chin up. 

“Look at me, son.” 

He obeyed, meeting eyes the same color as his own. He could do this, he could do this. Henry wasn't his father or ex-guardian. Surely Eric wouldn't had let Henry cosign for him if he thought he would actually harm him. He could handle this. “I'm okay.” 

He wasn't and Henry wasn't sure he shouldn't just wait. But he knew not following through would have dastardly consequences down the road, it had been long enough as it was. He didn't want to even imagine how unsettled Jake would be if he didn't follow through with this. He took a breath, steeling his heart against the brief moment of terror in the younger man's eyes, before releasing his chin and using his gentle hold on his wrist to pull him over his knee. He waited a moment, giving the other man a chance to settle down before raising his hand and bringing it down with a hard swat to Jake's bottom. He forced himself to ignore the quiet yelp and the not-so-subtle flinch. He was a mind-healer who specialized in spotting changes in behavior and body language, so he knew he would be able to spot it if Jake suddenly could not handle it. But he was also certain that the younger man would be okay. He continued raining hard smacks to the boy's bottom, wanting this lesson to get through to him. Risking his life and putting himself in danger when it wasn't necessary was not acceptable and he intended to prove that to the younger man. 

-x-

Jake sniffled softly, his head buried into Henry's shoulder. “I'm sorry.” He resolved silently to never disobey Henry again, although he knew he probably would. But that had hurt! Granted, he knew that he would be fine in the morning, if a little sore. And Henry had hugged him immediately after, no one had ever done that before. 

“Clean slate, Jake.” He tighten his hug for a moment, thankful that the younger man had let him hug him in the first place. While a spanking caused momentary discomfort, he knew that if nothing else, it proved to the younger man that he kept his word. And hopefully, Jake would come to realize that it was because he cared about him. He let the younger man pull back, surveying him for a moment. “Why don't you go wash your face and I'll check on the boys?” He suggested, nodding toward the bathroom. 

Jake nodded, wiping the reminding tears off his face. He would feel better with a clean face. Plus he was tired and while he usually liked checking on his boys, tonight he would let Henry. Because he felt very emotionally drained. He swiped at his face with a washcloth before finding his toothbrush and quickly brushing his teeth. He headed back into their room, going straight for his bed. 

Henry fought back a chuckle, eyeing the young man who was sprawled on his stomach, asleep on top of his bed. He twitched his wand, gently moving the blanket out from under the young man. He carefully covered Jake with a blanket, watching the younger man sleep for a moment. He glanced at his own bed, before sighing softly. All the children were in bed and asleep, as were the younger counselors, as he had glanced in on all the cabins and the connected counselor rooms. And he really, really needed to go for a walk. He very quietly moved out of their room, down the counselor hallway and into the castle. He almost always got lost in the castle but tonight he knew exactly where he needed to go.


End file.
